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WELCOME TO PAGE THREE
DECEMBER 5, 2006 ISSUE |
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| A Very
Disappointed Hockey Official Speaks Out About Coaches Who Speak
Without Thinking |
| EDITOR'S NOTE: The following
letter was sent in by a young gentleman who should be well-known to many
of the people living in Valley East and Capreol. He no longer
resides in Valley East, but is still living in Northeastern Ontario. We
thank him for sharing some of his thoughts and opinions on the game
of hockey. |
| I
think that many coaches
forget to think before they speak.
I ref a lot of hockey in
our area and at all levels. I can tell you lots of stories
that if it was caught on tape coaches would be very embarrassed.
I live in Rural Northern Ontario and teams have to do some travel to
get games in. We often get triple headers where a midget game
will be first, a pee wee game in the middle and the same two Midget
teams play again for the third game.
On this particular Sunday
the two midget games were Girls, so I did the first game.
Nothing happened in this game. I may have used old school judgment and let some of the new infractions go just a little but it kept the
flow of the game at a great pace. I called more penalties than
last year but still let a lot go. As a side note anyone who
feels there is no body contact in girls hockey, needs to go out and
watch, because they will be very surprised at the talent level of
these young ladies and I think our dominance at the world level is
going to continue for some time. but back to my story.
After the game one of the coaches came over to me and told me that
he enjoyed the game but felt that I didn't call enough penalties for
both teams based on what some of the other officials were doing in
his league. I took in his comment thanked him and I knew what
he was saying. I was consistent but call more penalties.
Point heard and taken.
In game two there was another
official doing the game, I was on the lines for this one and he
called the game according to how we are instructed to call the game.
the girls were sent to the penalty box in numbers. I don't
think there was a 5 minute stretch of 5 on 5 the entire game.
and I think the girls were getting a little frustrated. So
with about 3 minutes left in the third period there was some contact
made behind the net which there was no need for a penalty but a
player yelled from the bench "hey ref there is no body contact
in Girls hockey" well this was completely wrong but I
didn't make a comment, "there is no body checking in girls
hockey but there is definitely a lot of body contact".
But the next comment from a female coach is where my jaw hit the
ice, the coach spoke out "that is what happens when Men are in
charge of women." I couldn't believe that she was saying
this with me right beside her.
To put this in context imagine
a female ref, in game where it is all boys and a male coach yelled
out "this is what happens when you put a women in charge!"
I truly believe that minor hockey would through the book at him and
he may not ever be allowed in another arena. Maybe not that
drastic but definitely 10 plus games.
So this is where my
story really begins.
I told the ref about it and he wrote it
up the way it happened and gave her a Gross Misconduct for making a
travesty of the game. he faxed it off to the league. I in
turn, took the action of calling our Referee in chief, then the
regional Referee in chief, then the NOHA contact for our area.
At each phone call they laughed at me. Never mind my wife
thinking I was over reacting that I should have just shrugged it
off. It wasn't until I used the female ref story did anyone
take it serious.
Well two weeks later I was on the ice
with the same two teams and who was behind the bench the same lady.
The women's league gave her the minimum suspension - 3 games.
What message are we sending to the young girls when a coach only
gets 3 games for clearly sexist and in appropriate comments, where
if the roles where reversed the male coach would have been 10 plus
games.
To the women's Hockey Association, you definitely made
your point clear, "I am women here us roar!". You
missed the opportunity to do it better. To set a higher
standard of tolerance in the sport.
David-Sean Rowell
A very disappointed Official |
| EDITOR'S NOTE: As
a follow up to David-Sean's letter, the following is an article
about one of my own sons, Marty, who has made his way through the
ranks and is now a referee with the Ontario Hockey League. We
express sincere appreciation to all minor hockey officials who step
into the "lion's den" every time they go out to officiate
a game. It isn't easy, but someone has to do it. |
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| Valley East's Marty Kirwan Has
Grown With His Experiences On The Ice To Become One Of The Most Respected Referees In The Ontario Hockey
League |
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Marty Kirwan first pulled on the stripes in 1989 as an 11
year-old in the Valley East Minor Hockey Association. Today, the 27 year
old is beginning his second year as a full-time referee with the Ontario
Hockey League and is quickly becoming one of the most respected officials
in the circuit. We captured some photos of him during a game played
between the Sudbury Wolves and the Belleville Bulls on October 22, 2006.
For the record, the Wolves won the game by a score of 3 to 2 in a game
which many local fans were calling the best refereed game of the season.
Marty grew up in Val Therese. He attended
St. Anne School then attended St. Charles College. He graduated from
Laurentian University Sports Administration (Bachelor of Commerce) Program
in the spring of 2002. He has his Senior Level 4 Canadian Hockey
Association Officials Certificate.
Marty also knows what it is like to play
the sport, having competed at the 'AAA' Major PeeWee level before deciding
to devote full time to refereeing. After four years off the ice he played
a starring role on defense with his high school team while in Grade 13. So
Marty knows the game from all sides and uses this knowledge to effectively
manage all situations while on the ice as an official.
Before being appointed as a full-time
referee with the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) at the beginning of the
2005-2006 hockey season, Marty was a well-respected referee in the
Northern Ontario Junior "A" Hockey Association (NOJHA) and in
the Ontario College (OCAA) League during the 2001-2002 season before he
decided to move to the Toronto Area at the beginning of the 2002-2003
season to advance his career on the ice and to manage the family owned
marketing business. He was married to Christina (Woodley) in October
2004 and now lives just north of Guelph. He began a career as a police
officer with the Peel Regional Police Department in January 2005.
In the spring of 2002 he had the honor to
be a Referee in the Ontario "Air Canada Cup Regionals" held in
Timmins and other tournaments such as the Big Nickel Major AAA tournament
and the high school OFSAA tournament that was held in Sudbury, Ontario.
Marty was also selected as one of the six
(6) referees assigned to the do the games at the 2004 World Under 17
Hockey Challenge which is being held in St. John's, Newfoundland from
December 28 through January 4. He was only one of two referees from
Ontario, with the other four coming from Quebec and out West.
Marty summed up his feelings with the
following, "The thing that I love the most about being a hockey
official is that it does not seem like work to me. You show up to the rink
and you know that for the next two to three hours, you are going to
Referee a hockey game that has never taken place before. You never do the
same game twice, it always changes."
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For more photos of Marty in action, CLICK
HERE>>>>
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| After The Whistle
Hockey Web Site Provides Readers With Plenty To Think About |
| Click on the banner below for a
full web site with plenty of stories, articles, and editorials that
will make you think about the state of hockey today. |
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Doug Hanson Novice House League Team
Raises Funds Through Penny Table Sale |
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Parents and players from the Doug Hanson Novice House League Team spent many
hours at the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre during the weekend of December 1
to 3 selling Penny Table tickets to raise funds for their upcoming
tournaments this season. Many groups and organizations are finding that the
organization of a Penny Table is one of the easiest and more enjoyable ways
of fund-raising. Parents contribute two or three gifts to the table, as well
as several hours of their time to supervise the ticket sales, and money can
be raised to defray some of the costs of operating the hockey team. Sandy
Dombek was the coordinator of this particular penny table venture and
indicated that she was very pleased with the support of the community during
the weekend.
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| Good Neighbours Food Bank
Volunteers Raise Money For The Salvation Army |
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Reina Bazinet, on the left, and Andrea Blais-Beaulieu
spent several hours at the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre on December , 2006,
ringing bells and raising money for the Salvation Army. Each year volunteers
such as Reina and Andrea volunteer their time towards this very worthwhile
endeavour. Valley residents generously support this cause with donations of
cash which will then be used to help those in the community who are less
fortunate.
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| Next Blood Donor Clinics
Scheduled For December 21 At Knights of Columbus Hall |
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 Michelle
Blais, Senior Clinic Coordinator, Donor Services for Canadian Blood Services
reminds all local residents that monthly clinics are held at the Knights of
Columbus Hall on Emily Street every month.
Clinic hours are between 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. on the
following dates:
December 21
January 17, 2007
February 21, 2007
March 21, 2007
If you have any questions, please contact Michelle at:
Phone: (705)688-7347
Toll free: (800) 263-3733
email: michelle.blais@bloodservices.ca
Seventeen year old Kelsey Patterson, shown above in the photo, a Grade 12
student at Confederation Secondary School in Val Caron, recently gave blood
for the very first time on her 17th birthday. She is shown above with Health
Worker, Shiela Gravelle, who gave Kelsey a birthday to remember.
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ADULT
BADMINTON
Mixed Doubles
Bishop Alexander Carter
School
539 Francis Street, Hanmer
For All Men and Women
16 Years and older
THURSDAYS
8:00 to 9:00 p.m.
$20 Registration Per Year
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Contact: Larry at 969-5023
or Vic at 969-7180 |
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GREATER
SUDBURY PUBLIC LIBRARY
OFFERS
A TEEN ADVISORY GROUP |
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TAG! You’re it!
The Greater Sudbury Public Library is looking for teens in grades 7 to
12, who will meet monthly, to join the library’s Teen Advisory
Group (TAG).
Reasons to consider joining...
1. Look good on college resume
2. Earn Community Service hours
3. Suggest materials for the library
4. Meet new people
5. There’s always food at meetings
6. It’s fun!
| You
have the choice of two groups: |
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Valley
East Public Library
4100
Elmview Drive, Hanmer
first
Wednesday of the month
4:00
- 5:00 p.m. |
Main
Public Library
74
MacKenzie Street, Sudbury
last
Wednesday of the month
4:00
- 5:00 p.m. |
If you are interested, please call Ginette Mallette at
673-1155,
extension 205.
Join us for the next meeting.
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| The Amazing Persona Spends Several
Days Introducing Valley Residents To New Digital System |
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Representatives of The Amazing Persona, including Natalie Champagne, of the
company's marketing department, were on hand for three days, from December 1
to 3, 2006, at the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre meeting with local
residents to show them the features of their new products, including digital
cable television. A beautiful plasma television set drew a lot of attention
during the weekend.
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| Hi Bob!
Just looking at the photos from St.
Kevin's Tea & Bazaar...I sure do miss those things, nothing like
them at all down here. No one knows what a penny sale is, and the only tea
they drink down here is "iced."
I noticed a face that looked familiar while looking at these photos. I checked
the name and saw it is Doris Labelle. I thought, nah, couldn't be the Mrs.
Labelle I had in grade 5. Then I saw the next photo of her, and it does
look like her! Can it be...??
(Yes, Wendy. The lady on the left is Doris Labelle. The lady on the
right is Bertilla Rodriguez)
You don't know how much I long to be up there at this time of year. We
actually had a snow flurry last week (it was above freezing on the ground,
but it was cold up above us...the snow came down and melted before hitting
anything), but we're back up into the low 80s again. My mom's in Sudbury
right now (probably at Pioneer Manor as we speak, sitting with my
grandmother). Mom said it's been warm, but then you had a bit of a
freezing rain storm yesterday...? Sounds delightful to me!
I remember one time we had a whole bunch of snow, and then it got warm
(I think it was in March or somewhere later in the season) and a lot of
snow started to melt, and then it rained and got cold again...school was
out because of the weather as the roads were iced over. It was really
windy, and these kids down the street got their skates on, held a sheet
between them, and ice-sailed down the street!
We just celebrated our Thanksgiving last weekend.
Katie's had a cold, so she wasn't much in the mood for turkey. I must say,
for not having my mom around, the gravy turned out really good (of course,
I did call her to get instructions as I was doing it!). The City of
Orlando had its employee holiday luncheon today at the O-rena (we
still can't get used to calling it the TDWaterhouse Center). My gravy was
MUCH better than the stuff they served there...their stuffing looked like
it had been put through a blender...and the ham was called "mystery
meat" by several of my co-workers! I wonder who catered the event?!
At least the turkey wasn't too bad (although even there, I believe mine
was better!).
One of my co-workers was up in Niagara Falls
two weeks ago, and she'd brought back some fancy cookies...maple cream
cookies! I told her you could get the same thing at the dollar store (made
in Canada, of course), so went out and bought some and brought them
in...no one could taste a difference. Yesterday I brought in some Dare
maple cream cookies which I found at a local grocery store (and bought a
bag of chocolate fudge cookies for myself, but the kids have eaten most of
them already!!). Gotta show these Americans what good junk food tastes
like!! I had Shirley bring me back some Coffee Crisp bars, and the
following weekend I found some at another dollar store in Winter Park! And
they were 2 for $1!!! That's cheaper than we'd pay up there!!! Now, if I
could only get someone locally to sell butter tarts and ketchup chips! The
Entenmanns company was selling Vachon cakes under their name here for a
while (Au Caramels and Half Moons, as we called them up there) but they've
disappeared. The Dare cookies I find every now and again, depending on the
store. I'm hoping mom can bring me down a can or two of Habitant soupe au
pois. I have a recipe to make some sponge toffee (looks easy enough) which
will probably entertain Katie as well (and give her a quick science lesson
at the same time), and another recipe for tortiere. I'll let you know how
those turn out! Maybe I'll make some butter tarts, too, if I become
ambitious and the weather gets cool. I can't make the sponge candy 'til
the humidity drops again, should have taken advantage of the nice weather
last weekend.
See? And you take all these things for
granted.... LOL!!
Anyway, hope you're doing well and you're getting
back on track after the elections. Please let me know whether the Doris
Labelle in the photos was the same one I knew. I love when you post photos
as I am constantly searching for my old life and people I knew when I
lived up there in God's country!
Take care, Bob!! |
| Thank you for keeping in touch, Wendy. It is
always a joy to receive one of your emails. I know that our readers
appreciate your reflections about the "Good old days in Valley
East". I will say hello to Doris Labelle for you. |
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